


Sharing a Mind

by orphan_account



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Fusion, Gangs, Gen, I can do whatever the hell i want to, I wrote this shit, Instead of updating my other shit, Take what you can get, cursing, this is my au, wait
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-09
Updated: 2017-05-14
Packaged: 2018-10-16 21:53:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,037
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10580226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: On a stormy day Steven helps a stranger. But this stranger ends up causing more questions to be asked than solutions to be found, reveals more secrets kept by Rose, and has a gang after them. But they try.(Feel free to leave constructive criticism and correct spelling or grammar errors)





	1. Time To Meet

It was a beautiful day in Beach City. Rain pattered against the windows and thunder rang out as Steven waited for the Gems to come back from their underwater mission. They would be back in a few moments. Steven sat on the seat by the window trying to pass time by reading through the storm.

Another lightning strike lit up the sky. In that moment he looked through the window and saw a figure on the beach. Who would be out during a storm? Maybe they like going out in rainstorms. He watched for a moment to see if they were going somewhere, but it looked as if they weren't. So he returned back to his book- but took one last worried glance toward the person in the rain.

They were walking up the hill to the door now, but it looked more as if they were dragging themselves. They were hurt! He quickly opened the door and helped them out of the rain. Immediately, they collapsed onto the couch. Their short, curly soaked hair clung to their face.

"Are you okay? You look hurt, are you hurt?" Steven started asking them questions. "Were you lost? Is there something I can do to help-"

"T-Thank you.... My name's, uh... Meverri. I was stuck in that storm and I.... _tripped_ , I tripped and hurt my ankle." They motioned to their leg on the coffee table. A long cut was across their ankle. It wasn't shallow, but it wasn't deep either. Meverri was very curious about this stranger that had helped them. Most people who were kind enough to help would probably call an ambulance and keep them dry. But for some reason instead he just helped them inside. What could be done if they were inside a house and not at a hospital?

"My name's Steven. And I think I have something to help!" They watched the boy run off to get something down a hallway, presumably towards a bathroom to get a medical kit or something. But instead he returned with a bottle. It looked to be filled with a sort of pinkish tinted water.

"Its from my mom's fountain! I have my healing spit, but something told me that would be a little weird." Meverri stared, still going back over the information that was just told to them.

"O-kay... watch this!" He uncapped the bottle and poured a bit of the fountain water on the cut. Meverri watched in amazement as the cut healed. Their skin knitting back together and the pain going away. They stared for a moment at it, wide eyed.

"Pretty cool, right?"

"So cool..." But their mumble was barely heard over another crack of thunder. The rain fell harder on the windows. It would be awful to let Meverri go out in the rain. They obviously did _not_ l ike to go out in storms. Steven then had an idea.

"You can stay here if you want! Just to wait out the storm. But I'll probably need to ask the Gems; they should be back in a few minutes."

"Did you say... Gems? As in the Crystal Gems?" Had they found them? Was this the base of the magical Crystal Gems? They hoped so, or else the whole healing thing would bring up so many questions.

"Yeah! I'm a part of the Crystal Gems. But I'm half human. See?" The boy lifted up his shirt t reveal a pink gemstone. "There's also Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Connie, and I think Lapis Lazuli? I'll have to ask her. But we protect the humanity from things like corrupted gems. It's pretty cool!"

 _Half human_. The words went through their head over and over for a while. Probably more than the other information. They almost didn't hear Steven talking.

"-around here before. Are you new to Beach city?"

"Oh uh, yeah. Do you know Valley City? It's a bit past Jersey. That's where we- I'm/ from." Meverri felt like they needed to say something more. But didn't know what, so they stayed silent.

Steven, however, was excited to have another human friend. "You're from way out there! Cool!" Steven thought for a moment, "I have some video games if you want to play while we wait for the Gems."

"Sounds cool." Meverri got up to follow him upstairs. They put down their foot, half expecting to feel pain, but was relieved when there wasn't any. It when they got up that Steven realized how tall they were. Meverri was probably as tall as Stevonnie, maybe taller. The both of them climbed up the stairs and had sat down in front of his TV.

"So we have three Lonely Blade games, I say the second one's the best. Then we have-" the sound of the warp pad activating and the light that followed filled the room, "The Gems are back!" Meverri watched as Steven ran back down the stairs to greet them. They prepared themselves.

They were about to meet the rest of the Crystal Gems.


	2. Time To Greet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet wins a board game and Meverri meets a person of the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I put the rating at teen because this fic will have cursing. It's part of who I am and what I do so I put it in my work. Anyways, enjoy!

Garnet knew that there was a small possibility that a stranger would be in the house when they came back from the mission. And, knowing Steven, he would make that small possibility a reality. So when Steven came running up to them telling about how his new friend Meverri needed a place out of the rain, it was not very surprising.

"They can stay here as long as they need to. You don't have to worry." Meverri felt like that last line was directed at them rather than Steven. Why _would_ they need to worry? The leader adjusted her visor, "The storm should be gone by tomorrow."

"Thank you so much. I really appreciate it." It felt awkward. Amethyst and Pearl didn't really speak because of the uncomfortableness in the room. It wasn't a standoff- Meverri was thanking them all- but Garnet was tall and so was Meverri. To those Garnet didn't know well, her partly-covered face was blank and intimidating, she was also taller than them so that added on. The part that was uncomfortable was that Meverri was _slightly_ taller than Garnet somehow which made her _slightly_  annoyed.

Steven was currently rummaging through the closet under the stairs which made Meverri relieved that it wasn't silent. "Who wants to play board games? We have a few in here."

Meverri walked over and looked inside at the games. "Very impressive board game collection. One of the finest I've seen," they said in a fake proper accent, "They only thing that could make it better is- oh! What's this? _Pick Up 100_? Now your collection looks perfect. I recommend we play this one."

"It's super fun!" Steven said, reaching in to get it.

" _Pick_ _Up 100_? I hope the directions for this one aren't as complicated." Pearl moved over to the couch.

"Alright! I was getting bored. So what do we do?" Amethyst said.

"So," Meverri started setting up the game, "You start with ten 1 Cards and your piece at '10' on the board. In the middle are four stacks: the A stack, B stack, C stack, and Picking stack. On your turn you pick from the Picking stack and that card will either say A, B, or C. You can either keep the card, or you can pass it to the person on your left. If you keep it, then you pick the card from the stack with the same letter. That card will have a number on it from one to ten, so you add that to your total.

"If you pass it, then the next person chooses whether or not to keep it or pass it. If they pass it, then it goes to the next one and so on. If everyone passes it and it goes back to the original person, the original person must keep it. When you keep a card and add it to your total, you move your piece to the place marked on the board. The first person to the 100 spot wins. If it goes past 100 it doesn't matter," they finished.

"It certainly sounds interesting. I'm willing to play," Pearl said.

"Count me in, dude."

"I'll play."

"Of course I'm playing!" And so the game started with Steven showing off some pretty amazing card shuffling skills. Close to the end of the round, Meverri had realize that the A pile had the worst cards. So, on their turn, they passed when they saw the A. But Pearl decided to keep and got the 10 she needed to win the game.

"Aha! I have a hundred, I won!" Pearl cheered.

"Nice game," Meverri said, "But I call having another round, I'm gonna win this time!" In the next round, Garnet won. The round after, Garnet won again. Finally, in the round after, Meverri won. They played two more rounds. Steven managed to get a win, and Garnet won again.

Soon they all noticed how it was getting late, the Gems went off into their rooms respectively (which Meverri was truly amazed to see the temple doors open) and Steven helped them with a heap of blankets.

"I'll be just up there," he pointed to the loft, "-if you need anything."

"I don't think I could thank you enough."

"It's no problem. We're the Crystal Gems, we protect humanity. There's no reason why we can't help someone."

And with that they both settled down to sleep. Meverri was finally sleeping under a roof for the first time in months, and Steven had made a new friend.

* * *

 

_Buzzz. Buzzzzz. Buzzzzzzz._

Meverri awoke to a familiar buzzing in their pocket. Their phone! It still worked. They weren't sure if it was a good thing or a bad thing. They checked the time. _2:06 a.m._ Why would someone be calling this early?

They let the phone continue it's buzzing until it stopped. They went to check the number, and heard another buzz. But it was a text message.

 _Meet me outside._ They would have dismissed it as a text to the wrong number, but they recognized it. It was not a person they particularly wanted to meet outside at two in the morning, but it would be best to go outside anyways.

They got up and made their way to the screen door. The rain had stopped and the clouds were already moving away. They slowly opened the door, careful not to make any noise, and stepped through and closed it softly. Their bare feet were cold on the hardwood.

"Looks like my great friends are together again." Their head whipped around to face her. They didn't know if they should be angry or afraid. She _found_  them.

"Don't," was all they said.

"Oh come on. After all these months, _this_ is how you greet me?"

"Fine. Hello, Morgan," they said in an unfriendly tone. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I'm here to bring back you g-"

"Shut up and keep your voice down," Meverri cut her off, "I don't want to wake him up."

" 'I', now huh? Looks like this is pretty serious. Look, I was just sent to take you back home."

"That is not my home."

"Well it should be! We raised you. We picked you up off the streets and gave you a family and this is how you repay us? By running away?"

"You _never_ let me find out who I am, asshole," Meverri started walking forward, "You just _used me!_ " They were now towering over Morgan, who had reached for something. Meverri stumbled back a few steps. "You're armed."

"I was told to be."

"Leave immediately."

"I will. But I will come back. I can track you down." And with that, Morgan left. Meverri was left standing in the cold. They took out their phone, and smashed it onto the deck. How were they so stupid? They were being tracked this whole time. After a moment and a few deep breaths they made their way inside.

"Meverri? Are you okay? Who was that?" They heard Steven ask. They said nothing other than an "I'm fine" under their breath and walked back over to the couch. They almost fell apart.

Almost.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to get the second chapter out. HAD TO. 
> 
> "Pick Up 100" is a game invented by me. I play it all the time. 
> 
> Feel free to leave constructive criticism and correct grammar and spelling errors. Or just leave what you liked! 
> 
> 'Till next time!


	3. Time to Vanish

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Meverri performs a magic trick.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess who has a schedule now! I'll be posting on Saturdays if I can. If not, I'll post on Sunday's! Enjoy the chapter!

The future of Meverri was very unclear. Of course there were many ways situations could go, so it would always be unclear, but there was something odd about theirs. There were many possibilities where Meverri left and was never seen again, or stayed with them and soon became a Crystal Gem and trained with Pearl. But there were a few that would have slipped Garnet's watch had she not been paying attention.

Meverri _disappeared_.

An example of is was in one possibility was when the Gems were fighting a corrupted gem that had suddenly got to close to them. Instead of the after math of dealing with what would happen if they got hurt, Meverri stopped existing. This troubled Garnet. It was as if someone was sailing down a river and all of a sudden that river had stopped, as if it was at the world's edge. They were gone. No more Meverri. But they weren't _dead_.

Confused, Garnet sought out to look ahead in that direction. But what she saw made even less sense. Meverri reappeared.

* * *

 

Later that morning, when Steven woke up, Meverri was gone. He had searched the entire house and was going to search the surrounding beach, but as far as he could see, they weren't anywhere. Now he was more worried about them. First on how they were so shaken after their conversation with the stranger, and now they suddenly disappeared! Maybe they had left because the storm passed? No, that didn't make any sense. He doesn't know much about Meverri, but knew enough to know that they wouldn't just leave unannounced.

He made a plan to go into town to look for them. He stopped in his thoughts. He doesn't really know Meverri at all. Who knows? They might have just thought that they needed to leave immediately. He stood halfway through the door confused as the door to the temple opened revealing Garnet.

"Good morning, Steven. I see that Meverri left."

"Yeah, but I'm worried about them. Earlier they went out to talk to someone and seemed really shaken up when they came back."

"And your worried that might be connected to their disappearance." Steven nodded. "You do not need to worry, Steven," the leader adjusted her shades, "If you go and find Lion, Meverri will be there."

Steven looked up at the fusion, "Thanks Garnet!"

* * *

 

It was early in the morning. Lion tried to sleep under the deck. It was a nice spot. That was until two people arguing had woke him up. Of course! The storm _finally_ had stopped then someone would wake him up again! He heard the sound of someone going back inside a while after the other person left.

Finally, all was quiet.

An hour or two later, Lion heard the door open and close again. With an annoyed grunt he sat up to see who it was. It looked to be a human, but there was something very familiar to Lion. It reminded him of someone who wasn't human. The human walked down the steps and jumped when they saw him. Liom yawned, laying back down. The human looked intrigued and started making their way towards Lion. Slowly they came closer to him. They held out their hand and patted his head.

To Meverri, the lion made no move of attack so maybe he wanted to be pet? They decided that this lion was friend not foe. They moved to pet Lion's head. Lion stared at them, unblinking. The pink feline liked them!

"You know, I was worried for a second that you didn't like me."

Lion stared.

"You're lucky I've met another lion. Not as pink though."

Lion blinked.

"They weren't as nice, too."

This human looked tired. They weren't just tired, they were delirious. Lion moved and nudged their shoulder.

"You're a nice lion."

* * *

 

Steven had found them both under the house. Meverri was sitting next to Lion. They weren't sleeping, but they looked to be in a sort of daydream state.

"Hey Meverri!"

"Huh?" They said, snapping out of their daydream. "Oh uh, hi. Your lion's cool. I mean, I've met another lion and they were pretty rude."

"Lion's pretty friendly! Why'd you come down here?" Steven asked.

"I really needed some fresh air. And I heard a noise and went to see where it came from. Turns out it was Lion," They lied.

"Oh, I was kinda worried... You know that you can still stay if you need to, right?"

"Really? I can?"

"Yeah, of course you can!"

"Thank you so much, but, are you sure? Are you sure you don't need me to pay rent or something for as long as I'm here?"

"I don't even know what that is, but you don't have to pay anything."

"Wow. I guess I'm so used to people wanting something in return..."

"Well I'm doing it out of kindness." Steven assured them. This concept was very new to Meverri. It wasn't like they didn't know what kindness was, they just weren't used to it.

"We should go back inside."

* * *

 

"So what's Valley City like?" It was later that day- almost noon- when Steven asked the question. The conversation from the early morning was playing on repeat in Meverri's head, so it caught them.

"Oh, uh, it's great! Well, it doesn't exactly have the _lowest_ crime rates and hearing police sirens _many_  times a day is not abnormal, but it's where I'm from."

"What about your family? What are they like?"

Meverri froze for a second. _He won't actually know who they are, right?_ "I wouldn't exactly call them family, not in the normal sense.

"One of them was R-Jay and he was great with tech. Any gadget broken? He could fix it. Virus on your computer with a ransom to get rid of it? Gone! And the person too." They said the last part with a chuckle at the inside joke shared only with themself.

"Oh, and M-Jay could totally kick a- uh, butt. I mean, we could all defend ourselves in a fight (and no one was as strong as me) but she was great at getting around others and was _fast_.

"The twins, D-Jay and A-Jay were planners. Whenever we went on a... family outing, they would always have everything planned out. And if things didn't go well, they had a plan for that, too.

"G-Jay and J-Jay were the power couple. They were actually the ones who took us in. They took in a lot of us. We were a team more than a family. We all brought something new to the table."

"So what did you bring?"

"Lets just say, I brought some magic," they said wiggling their fingers.

"They all sound so cool. And if you don't mind me asking, what's with the 'Jay' part?"

"Oh, those were our nicknames. There were a _lot_ more of us than I listed off, but that was my team. The nicknames helped keep track of us all. Mine was MT-Jay."

"That's really cool! It's pretty easy to keep track of us here pretty easily. We're all so different! But it sounds like all of you are close."

"Not anymore. We weren't exactly on nice terms before I left. Me leaving was actually the reason we aren't on good terms."

"Well, why did you leave?"

"To find who I am and where I come from and where I fit in and all that stereotypical stuff you read in stories. I mean, look at us. We're friends and that wouldn't have happened if I didn't leave," Meverri sighed, "I must have done _something_ right."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Until Steven broke it again with another question. "...Did you find out yet?"

"What?"

"Did you find out who you are yet?"

"Sorta, I guess? I've grown into my own person. Instead of being like one thing or the other, I'm me. I still have my moments but I'm still here."

"Well even thought your not on good terms with your team-family, at least you're on goid terms with yourself."

"I guess I am." Meverri had thought about it for a long time. To them, there was to better time to tell. "Can I tell you something?"

Steven gasped, "Are you going to tell me something really cool?"

"I guess so, I mean sure, I mean it's not that cool but kind of cool," _just spit it out,_ "Okay, you see-" Meverri was interrupted by someone opening the door.

"Oh hey Connie! Doesn't training start at one o'clock?"

"Yeah but I decided to come early so we could hang out a bit beforehand." Connie looked up from setting her bag down and saw a stranger sitting on the couch.

They wore a turtleneck underneath a yellow shirt and a skirt over some leggings. They wore three ratings on each ear and had the sides of their hair shaved down with their curly hair flowing from top to back. Something about this stranger was familiar. It gave her a feeling to be cautious of them.

"Connie, this is Meverri. They needed a place to stay out of the storm the other day so I let them stay here." Steven introduced. Connie made a mental note of his use of "they."

"Nice to meet you, Connie."

"It's nice to meet you too." Meverri was cautious of Connie. They didn't trust people very easily- Steven was an exeption- and it seemed to be no different with Connie. Steven, on the other hand, seemed not to notice.

"We should watch tv!"

"Yeah! Meverri, care to join?" Connie asked out of politeness.

"No thank you." The two went up the stairs and Steven turned on the television.

"Oh, it's the news. Let's change the channel."

"But wait, it's talking about Valley City."

"The place with all the crime?" Connie asked.

"That's where Meverri is from." Hearing their old city's name perked their interest. The moved to a position where they could see the tv better.

_"...we're hearing more on the story of the apartment building that went up in flames the other night. Police were investigating the cause of the fire earlier and came across three different notes found in different locations on-site. The police have disclosed the following information: one note had said 'MV-JAY', another said 'T-JAY', the final one said 'MT-JAY'. This is proof of this fire being involved with the known gang, The Jays, being behind this and maybe even the person or persons behind it..."_

"That's not right. Meverri, isn't that your nickname?" Steven asked doubtfully.

Suddenly it all clicked into place for Connie. Why she had recognized them, everything. She had seen someone who looked like them on television. It was a blurry picture so that's why she couldn't recognize them at first.

"You're one of the Jays, aren't you?" Connie accused.

But Meverri didn't hear her. They couldn't hear anyone or anything.

_"They set us up! They pretty much signed our name on It! We're screwed and you know it! Then Morgan will show up. You know what she'll tell us? The only way to get rid of this mess is to go back to them."_

_"We_ can't _go back"_

Silence. Meverri glowed. **"I know we can't"**

Then, for their not-so-final act, Meverri _dissapeared._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> But it WAS a magic trick! ;) Seeya! Feel free to comment what you think!


	4. Time to Find

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Crystal Gems make a plan and Meverri goes to a not-so-old friend.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's a slightly longer chapter for my absence.

When Garnet had walked into the room she knew that everything would be fine or that something big might happen. She had hoped for the former, but alas, the latter was more likely to happen. That being said, it was not very surprising to her that when she walked in Steven and Connie were panicked, worried, and confused all at the same time.

Connie couldn't believe anything. It all went by so quickly. The report, her accusation (which Connie was really starting to feel guilty about blurting out like that), Meverri talking and then... disappearing in a flash of red light. All of it happened so fast and so suddenly, none of it seemed real. But it was. What did that mean? Was Meverri actually a Gem in disguise? As questions were going through Connie's head, she failed to notice Garnet entering the room from outside.

Steven noticed, though, and quickly went over to her to tell her the situation. Garnet listened quietly.

When the explanation was over, Garnet spoke, "We'll need to get Amethyst, and Pearl. Peridot too. If Meverri's a Homeworld Gem in disguise, we'll need Peridot there if we find them. Maybe Lapis as well, to be safe. You and Connie can get Peridot and Lapis. I'll find Pearl and Amethyst."

The children both nodded before heading up to the warp pad. They both shared a nervous glance before being whisked away with the light of the warp stream.

* * *

 

Meverri collapsed on the ground. Much of their energy was drained. Long jumps tended to do that. They were on the sidewalk in front of a large apartment complex. Thankful that they jumped to the right place, Meverri tried to get up... And then fell back down. They noticed their body start to glow and felt like they were unraveling.

"No! I can do this. Trust me, I can do this!" The glow had stopped. The unraveled feeling gone. All they had to do now was make it to an elevator. They tried getting up and soon found out that the task was _much_ easier said than done.

Getting into a wobbly stance they started towards the elevator. It took a a lot longer than they had thought, but were very grateful to find that it was empty as they collapsed for a third time.

They could just sleep in the elevator. It seemed nice enough. _You came here for a reason. You can stay with her._ The voice echoed through their mind. It wasn't their thought, sort of, but they knew what they had to do.

The elevator door opened and they stumbled out. They slowly made her way down the hallway.

_28.....29.....30.....31!_

Meverri stepped up to the door and knocked. _Please be here. Please be here. Please be here!_

The door opened. The person behind it with a lip piercing and wild short, pink hair. She had obviously been stressed. They could have been standing there all night, so Meverri broke the silence.

"Uh, hey, S. How's it been?" Meverri didn't know what they were expecting. But it surely wasn't their friend giving them a giant hug.

"Where the fuck have you been?! Do you know how stressed I've been since you just dissapeared like that?"

"I know, I know. I was really stupid, I'm so sorry," Meverri paused, then added, "We all are sorry."

"Good. Now you look absolutely exhausted. Get your ass inside." _And there she goes._

"I'm not _that_ tired." They said as they followed her inside.

"Like I'm gonna believe that. You can lay on the couch but don't fall asleep yet. We got some catching up to do."

Meverri immediately did what she said and flopped onto the couch face first.

"Hey, watch it! Don't break my couch," she said, rolling her eyes at Meverri's "yeah, yeah" motion.

S. went and got a cup of the coffee she had previously made. It wasn't strange of her friends to randomly show at her door, but it sure did scare the shit out of her when they randomly dissapeared. 

"Alright," she sat in an armchair near the couch and set down the cups on the coffee table, "What's been going on in your world since you left and gave me a heart attack?"

* * *

 

All of the Crystal Gems were gathered in the house. They've never had a complete meeting with _everyone_. Sure, they've all been together, but this was serious.

"Alright everyone," Garnet spoke, "Meverri, is gone. We have no idea where they are. But we can find them. We have little to information about them. For all we know they're a Homeworld Gem in disguise. That would mean that we need to act quickly and find them immediately."

"They just dissapeared?" Pearl asked looking to Connie and Steven, who both nodded.

"They sort of dissapeared in a flash of red light. It was like they teleported," Connie explained.

"Teleportation..." Peridot muttered. All eyes turned to her. "A Gem that can teleport. Teleportation takes a lot of energy. Getring rid of the physical form and moving it, as well as the gem, through space to another position. The longer the distance, the more energy it takes. This Gem must be powerful. Most likely one of upper class, maybe even a general. I would be able to identify them if I just saw the gem." Peridot looked over to Steven and Connie, "You said they teleported in a flash of light, correct?"

"Yeah," Steven confirmed, "One moment Meverri was standing there and the next they were gone."

"Interesting...." Peridot took note of this information.

"But there's only been one Gem that we know of that's been able to teleport..." Pearl looked to Garnet.

"She is still on earth, but she's corrupted. Theres no way," Garnet responded.

"I can look around to see if I can see them." Everyone was surprised that Lapis had spoken. Everyone but Garnet.

"Thank you Lapis. It's a good idea to head out on a search in the surrounding area. Amethyst, Steven, and Connie. You three can look through the town. As soon as you're done, come back here immediately. We need someone here in case they come back." Garnet filled Peridot and Lapis in on what they looked like.

"The rest of us can go with partners to look around. We should meet back here in about an hour."

* * *

 

"Are you sure I can stay?"

"Of course you can. I know what it's like trying to deal with the Jays. A bunch of assholes," S. muttered the last part under her breath and Meverri shot a fake glare. "Fine, _mostly_ a bunch of assholes. But sure, you can stay."

"Thank you so much."

"But.."

Meverri groaned.

"You have to cook. You know I can't cook for shit and you pretty great at it. That's my only condition."

"Deal."

After that the two sat in a comfortable silence. S. looked over to Meverri, who was leaning back on the couch with their eyes closed but not asleep. She could tell they were tired. But she didn't know why they kept pushing to be there.

"Hey, Meverri?"

"Hmm?"

"Take a break for a bit." That suddenly caught their attention.

"What?!"

"Rest."

"But what if-"

"No 'buts' or 'what ifs'. That's an  _order_. You need rest." The two had a silent stare-off until they finally relented. 

"...Fine."

Meverri glowed and felt themself unravel.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> S. and Meverri eh? Who would have guessed they'd be friends? I did. I'm the author.
> 
> Steven didn't really talk much in this chapter, did he?
> 
> Also Meverri glowed again.
> 
> Seeya next time!


	5. Time for a Talk

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Several people have a talk time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Slightly longer chapter today.

“Hey, welcome back. Or... welcome again? How does this work?” S said to the two people now on the couch. It was weird watching someone unfuse when she barely understood it. She’d known them for years but still only knew the basics.

“Just stick to the ‘welcome back.’”

“You got it. So I'm guessing you two were fused this whole time, am I wrong?”

“You got that right. Meverri's a little… _reluctant_ to go if we've been fused for a while and I feel like shit every time we unfuse.”

**_“Even if we were hurt, which we weren't, they would still try to stay fused.”_ **

“Damn Terri, I forgot you could do that.” S said as Terri flashed a grin.

**_“Oh, no worries. I’ve only been doing this for years.”_ **

“Oh shut up, smartass,” She said jokingly. “Anyways, you guys look tired. Especially you, Mevern. Why don’t you guys relax? I'll go get some snacks from the kitchen and we can watch some Tv. I don't have work today.”

“I guess we deserve a break from everything…” Mev looked to Terri with the unsaid “ _You decide_.”

**_“Sure, S. I can help with the snacks.”_ **

“Alright, nice.” S grabbed the now empty cups and brought them with her as she made her way to the kitchen. Terri followed, looking around and the small changes in the apartment since she had last been there. One she particularly noticed was the photo on the fridge.

**_“You kept this?”_ **

“Of course I did. I needed _something_ to save that crazy ass day. Plus it was Meverri’s fifth fuseday, and one to forever keep in the books.” Terri laughed, remembering how the carefully thought out day turned into complete disaster. It was a tale to tell.

**_“Do you think it's normal to celebrate the day a fusion first.... existed?”_ **

“I dunno, you're asking the wrong person.”

Terri nodded and grabbed some _CHAAAAPS_ and a bottle of soda. S was busy searching through a cabinet.

“Since you have the chips, can you go get the dip that's in the fridge? I'll get some other stuff.”

After she had the dip, Terri walked back over. Flopping on the couch, she looked to Mev.

“ ** _Are you okay?”_ **

“Yes.”

“ **_No you're not. But it's okay, I won't pry anymore.”_ **

Mevern sighed. They were scared and angry all at once. “I know why they did what they did.”

**_“What?”_ **

They winced, “You know what I mean- I'm the reason they went after us just in the first place and why they used _fire_ as bait for us to come back.”

 _Fire._ Of all the things Mev knew, of all the things they should have been deadly afraid of, the one thing was _fire_. They knew the danger that fire held all too well. But the problem that seemed to bug people was that they had no scars to prove it.

But Terri knew about scars.

**_“It's not your fault. Don't be too hard on yourself. We both decided to leave and now they're targeting us. It's their fault, not ours.”_ **

_Targets. That's what we are now._ Terri had always feared to be on the receiving end of that word, and now she was.

“Alright guys, I got a some other snacks. Let's get to relaxin’!” S said setting down various boxes and bags full of different snacks. They both stared at the pile for a moment as S turned on the Tv. Mevern had to

“What?” she looked to them, “I told you I couldn't cook.”

 

* * *

 

“Nope! Not in here!” Amethyst yelled from inside a dumpster.

“I asked around a bit. They're not anywhere,” Connie sighed, “That's the last place we could check in Beach City, I guess we should start heading back.”

“It'd be great if _we_ could teleport,” Amethyst complained as the three made their way back. “I mean, that's such a cool thing. We'd be back by now.”

They walked off of the boardwalk and onto the beach. The purple gem looked over to Steven who was looking ahead. _He's not even trying to look like he was paying attention. Something’s up,_ Amethyst thought.

“Alright, what's goin’ on with you?” Amethyst said accusingly.

“W-What?”

“You haven't really been talking. Like, at all. Something’s on your mind, and you're not saying anythin’ about it.”

“It's not anything, I'm just thinking! Maybe there’s something in what Meverri told me which could tell us where they are.”

“That's a good idea, Steven! That could help us decode at least the area they're in,” Connie said as they went up the beach house steps. Steven was about to follow her inside when Amethyst blocked the doorway.

“Dude. Talk time. Later.” It was she said before walking inside. Steven sighed and followed. She knew he had lied.

“So if we’re supposed to wait here we might as well play some games or something,” Amethyst said after they were all inside.

“I have some video games that are two to four player if you guys want to play.” Steven said walking up the stairs to his room and taking a seat in front of the Tv.

“I'll just watch. I like more of the strategic games.” Connie said, sitting down on the bed.

“Amethyst?”

“Yeah dude,” Amethyst hopped up from the couch, “What are we playing?”

“Do you know Lonely Soul, the spinoff of Lonely Blade?”

“Uh… let's go with yes.”

“Anyway, this is one of the Lonely Soul 3 games.”

“Sounds cool.”

As Steven taught Amethyst how to play the game, Connie watched with not much interest. She was too busy in her own head. She didn't have enough brainpower to worry about _another_ Homeworld Gem. Especially one that had a good plan and probably backup plans. She was sure that she had it better than the others, though. She wasn't even _there_ half the time. It probably wouldn't affect her as much as Steven and the Gems. It wasn't like she would matter.

_No. Don't think about yourself like that again._

Connie looked out the window. It was darker in the sky than before. The Gems would be back any second and her mother would pick her up in a while.

The warp pad sounded as light flooded the room. Steven came down the stairs as the other two followed. Garnet and Pearl were standing there when the warp stream led up.

“Where’s Lapis and Peridot?” Steven asked.

“We caught up with them and they said couldn't find them, so we told them to go back to the barn. We'll be able to look some more tomorrow,” Garnet said patting Steven’s head, “But right now, Connie's mother is here to pick her up. 

The last part seemed to catch all of them off guard as simultaneously there was a knock on the screen door.

 

* * *

 

After the watching several episodes of a show they all liked, they decided to watch a movie. By the end of the movie, S had noticed it starting to get darker. It was still only seven thirty but she thought it best to leave the two in peace.

Mevern and Terri had fallen asleep halfway through the movie. Both had been exhausted and struggled to keep their eyes open before finally giving up. Terri ended up falling asleep first on Mev. Before they could groan and push her off, Mev fell asleep as well, unable to complain.

 

* * *

 

“Hey Steven!” Amethyst called. He looked over to see her morning for him to follow her outside. “Talk time.”

The two leaned on the railing in silence for a while. The sun was setting, causing the world to turn in different shades and colors. The ocean a peach color, the wood of the house was a light orange. There were many colors and hues all around them.

“You've had your time to be quiet. Now talk to me.” Amethyst said finally.

“There's nothing wrong! You asked earlier and I answered, there's no need for talk time.”

“You're the one who created talk time. Besides, you can't slip this one past me.” Steven sighed. She had a point. He couldn't slip _anything_ past her now.

“...It's just- what if Meverri’s not exactly a gem? What if they’re half human...”

“Like you,” Amethyst finished.

“Uh, yeah.”

“I see why that's really been on your mind. You want someone like you. I'm not really sure if they could be half human or not. But you don't need to worry about belongin’ to one or the other. You're like, both. And that's pretty cool.”

“Thanks Amethyst, that helped a lot.”

“No problem. Talk time is our time, and I'm not gonna to tell the rest if you don't want me to.”

Amethyst knew the situation wasn't fixed just from that short talk, but with more time, she may just _actually_ get through to him. They both stood in silence for a while more as the sun continued to set.  

“It's time to head on inside,” Amethyst said, cutting the silence once more. She poked Steven, who was resting his head on the railing, fast asleep.

“Wake up, Steven.” She tried snapping her fingers in front of his face.

Steven was still asleep.

“I know you're not _that_ heavy of a sleeper. And it's not even that late, so _wake_ _up!_ ” Amethyst lightly pushed him, expecting him to _finally_ wake up and come inside. But all he did was move in his sleep with a mumbled “drem”.

“Drem? What the heck is a drem?” All of a sudden, realization dawned on her.

“ _Shit_ , he's dreaming!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Looks like Steven is dreaming.
> 
> You all know what happens when he's dreaming. 
> 
> Yeah, that's my notes. 
> 
> Seeya


	6. Time to Dream

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dream-sharing time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another one on-time! I'm on a roll. 
> 
> Also: the lines are time skips (except for the last one) as well as switching to different places in this chapter.
> 
> Here you go!

Terri had a place she liked to go to. Barely anyone knew about it. She would go to that place to think, to plan, or just be alone. It was her safe space. It was her mind.

Meditation was a way to access it, but it took much concentration. But in between the dreamless and the dreamful sleeps, she could go there. The only people who knew about it were the people she accidently pulled into it.

But then, _it_ happened. Nightmares never came with it, but her Mindspace did. Every night, she would see the dark reds of her mind. She couldn't handle it. It reminded her of it too much.

Soon, time passed. The more and more times she slept, it was dreamless and blank. The Space would come around every now and then, she was trying to learn to handle it better.

Tonight was a night in the Mindspace. Immediately after seeing the red, Terri closed her eyes.

 **_“No… I can do this.”_ ** Carefully, Terri peeled one eye open. There, with his back facing toward her, was Steven.

“Is this another dream?” He hadn't noticed her yet. What if she used this to talk to him? That might get some time out of the way.

**_“Uh… hi. Could you please turn around?”_ **

Finally noticing someone was there, Steven turned around. There was a girl standing there. The most noticeable thing about her was her hair. It was shaved up the sides and presumably the back ( _That's called an undercut, I think)_ with curly hair on top. The second most noticeable thing was the fact that her eyes were an odd orange color.

“Oh! Sorry for being in your dream I-”

 **_“No. Don't worry. That was my fault. But I wanted to talk to you anyway, so this is a great opportunity!”_ ** Terri said quickly, her lips never moving to speak.

“Uh, okaaay.”

**_“My name is Terri. Please sit down._ **

**_“I already know who you are. But you don't know me, not really. You may know me better as Meverri.”_ **

“Wait, you're Meverri!?”

**_“Part of them. The other part is my friend. You see, I- Hmm, how do explain this correctly so your not confused?”_ **

“You can start from the beginning...?” Steven said more as a question than a suggestion.

**_“Y-Yeah, okay. My mother was very important. She was valuable, rare. There was only one other like her. She was held in a high position of power, but she was flawed and imperfect. She was seen as lower than the other._ **

**_And so, she was put to be in charge of all the ones who were imperfect, the ones who were only able to do one thing and that was to be strong. She was a general. The highest one at that._ **

**_But soon she found her place, and that was not with the people who thought she was flawed. It was with the ones who thought she was beautiful in her own way. She ended up taking the ones who believed in her with her._ **

**_After everything between the two groups was over, she was lost. She ended up settling down in the area, unknowingly close to her group, for a while. She later had me._ **

**_And now here I am, about sixteen years later. My mother was Painite. And she was a Crystal Gem. Half gem, half human. Like you, Steven.”_ **

* * *

“Yeah, I know I freaked out. But usually when something like this happens, it means something _important_. Like Malachite, remember?” Amethyst said, wildly gesturing to the upstairs loft where Steven now resided in his bed.

“Well you do make a good point, but he could have just been tired and fell asleep. You also didn't have to curse in front of him,” Pearl scolded, “Hmm, what do you think Garnet?”

“Let him dream. He'll wake up soon, but _we_ can't be the ones to do that.”

“I don't think we could do that even if we tried.”

“Very true. But we might be able to, that why we shouldn't.”

“What do you mean by _we_ shouldn't? Is someone else going to wake him up?” Pearl asked.

“Yes, but not anyone from the outside world. Right now, he's talking to a friend. Hopefully, he will tell us what he knows about them. But for now, we wait until he wakes up.”

And so, the Gems waited. And they waited. And waited. And kept waiting until an hour passed.  

“Ugh, this is boring. I'm going to go mess around with things in the temple. Tell me when he wakes up,” Amethyst said as her door opened.

“She’s lived for thousands of years and yet she can't wait more than an hour,” Pearl said.

“I’ll let you know when he wakes up,” said Garnet with a smirk.

Pearl then realized what Amethyst said she was going to do and ran into the temple. “Amethyst don't you _dare_ mess with anything!” she yelled as she chased after the purple gem.

Garnet leaned against the counter.

“And now we wait.”

* * *

“So I _was_ right. But how? I thought there weren't any other gems on earth.”

**_“There are others, I just don't know where they are. And I'm guessing you don't either.”_ **

“A whole bunch of old Crystal Gems still on earth somewhere… But how are they not corrupted?”

**_“That's a story for later, when I talk with the rest of the Crystal Gems.”_ **

“Speaking of the Gems, does that make you a Crystal Gem too?”

Terri scratched her arm, **_“That's, uh, why_ **_**we**_ **, _came.”_**

“You guys would make great Crystal Gems! Well I haven't met your friend directly, but I'm sure they'd be great!”

Terri smiled, **_“Yeah, Mevern's pretty great, if you ask me.”_ **

It felt like a talk between old friends. The conversation went much smoother than she thought it would. It was like they had known each other for a while. In fact, it was starting to be a little weird. But at least it was distracting her.

“I don't think I ever asked, but what is this place?” There goes her distraction.

**_“I-It's, a place that's, um, in my mind. I uh, accidentally pulled you in…”_ **

“Woah, cool…”

**_“Do you…? No it's probably just me.”_ **

“I think I know what your talking about, but I don't know how to explain it either.”

**_“So it isn't just me. Thank goodness, I thought I was just being weird.”_ **

At this moment in the conversation is when Terri felt something. It was like pulling someone into her mind, but stronger and the opposite. _She_ was being _pulled_ _out._

 _Dammit…_ she thought. **_“I'm about to leave. Don't worry, we will both return to the real world in our respective locations. But you need to tell the Gems about everything. Everything I said and everything we talked about.”_**

“Wait! Will I see you again soon?”

**_“Yes, you wi-”_ **

* * *

Meverri jumped awake, startled.

**“Shit, I knew it.”**

_“How many times have we accidently fused when we were sleeping? Seven?”_

**“Sorry I woke up, but I-”**

They were cut off by a glow and splitting apart.

**_“-I talked to Steven.”_ **

“You did!? Did you tell him everything?” Mev said excitedly.

**_“Yes I did, and he took it pretty well with a bit of questions. But there was this weird thing, like we actually knew each other, but we barely know each other at all.”_ **

“It's probably a hybrid thing, I'm calling it now.”

**_“You may just be right.”_ **

“Wait, really? I was just kidding.”

**_“Yeah, but it might be true. We should plan on going back soon.”_ **

“You're right.”

* * *

Steven had awoken suddenly as well.

“You seem to have slept well,” Garnet said as he walked down the stairs.

“Uh, yeah I guess. But I have something to tell all of you!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear, when Pearl scolded Amethyst for cursing I was so close to putting "like the motherly hen she was"
> 
> Some info on Terri and about her hybrid-ness.
> 
> I'm the only one who knows what IT is and I'm happy. But what do you think it is?
> 
> That's all I have to say for now, bye!


End file.
